Hi Dad,

How have I gone my entire life and never known that I was blessed in Utah too???? That is pretty crazy every time something big has happened in my church life, it has never been in the ward that I actually belonged to at that time. I was bless and baptized both in Utah, and then I had my farewell talk and was set apart by my home ward Stake president, which is not actually the ward that I was attending at the time. So weird. I am going to have to continue the tradition and not get married in the state that I am living in. I love you so much and will give you the same question that I gave mom!! I hope that you two have a fun time talking about it. Where have you lived throughout your life and which area was your favorite??? I like this question thing, it helps me learn more about you guys and still feel close to you as I am so far away. Oh and the weather is sooo crazy up here. Back and forth everyday. Let me know what questions you have for me, sometimes I have no clue what to write. :) Love you a ton,

 

Sister Kelliann Jensen

 

Hi Everyone,

This week was Stake Conference in the Foothills stake. I never realized how big our stake was, but I thoroughly enjoyed the conference. The Saturday session was all based around missionary work. They had 3 youth speak about how they were preparing for a mission, and they had 2 Returned missionaries speak on what they learned on their missions, I think the biggest thing I learned came from President Palmer, who is the 2nd counselor of the mission here in Calgary. He talked about a missionary that served in Ireland 50 years ago and how he thought that is was an "unsuccessful" mission because he had only baptized one person on his mission. President Palmer then went on to talk about how the mission was then closed for a time until years later when they reopened it to find that that one man had been working hard to prepare all of his family for baptism. From that one baptism, President Palmer's family came into the church, from that one missionary, a whole line of gospel centered families where born. He then talked about when they had the temple open house here is 2012 and there was a comment card that will haunt him forever. The card read "I had no idea, why do you people hide". We truly have no idea. We have no idea what effect we have on people, what one smile, one wave, one copy of the Book of Mormon will do for someone. I always hear of the stories of people that say if they had just had one person wave or smile at them, that would have caused them to rethink them trying to take their life. Sometimes it just takes one person, one hand to reach out... and as members of the church, we can not only reach out to others in love, but also in Charity. We need to being showing everyone that Christ and Heavenly Father are always there for us. 2 Nephi 28:32 says "come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day-long". Heavenly Father loves all of His children. He wants us to help Him with his work, and we need to remember that the worth of souls is great in His eyes.

 I think that we as human beings often times let things get in the way of what our true focus should be in this world. We need to remember, that no matter what goes on, God is always here for us, and he needs us to be there for others as they struggle. During the last general conference, Elder Lynn G. Robbins spoke about which way we face. Although this talk was one of the most memorable in me, the message didn't start sinking in until this week really. We need to be putting the will of God before our own will. And I feel like I am preaching to the choir, because I realized on Sunday that just about everyone else that I know is sooo much better about do this then I am, but I guess that why I am the one learning this hardcore on my mission not you. When we do the will of the Lord, and not focus on the will of the "flesh", we are blessed and experience lasting joy. However, doing this 24/7 is often really difficult and requires day by day repenting and working until the days comes that it our will is inline completely with that of our Father in Heaven.

 

One of the youth speakers on the Sunday session of Conference was talking about Moroni's Quest (which is basically a youth camp where they reenact the Book of Mormon!!), and she talked about the experiences that she had during the Tree of Life part (1 Nephi 8). One of the things that she said that really stood out to me was when she said that "Sometimes the people that take us away from the straight and narrow are the people that we love most". Or in some case the things we love most. This seems to be quit the recurring topic in my studies and really throughout my entire mission so far, and it is something I struggle with a lot. However, a scripture that has helped me through some of the hardest times on my mission has been 1 Nephi 3:7 "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded. For I know that the Lord giveth no commandment unto the Children of Man, save He shall prepare a way for them to accomplish the things which he commandeth them." I know for a fact that when we are striving our best to do the will of the Lord, to put Him first in our lives, that He will be there every step of the way. He promises and will help us to accomplish the goals that we have in this life, however we have to be doing our part. It is after all we can do that He will help us. It is after we use our agency and tell Him that we are ready to change that He will show us that we do not have to do it alone. Christ is the biggest hope to all mankind. His atonement for us is infinite and covers everything that we will and have gone through in this life, and we need to remember that sometimes the best thing we can do is remember that Christ is always with us. That with Him, anything is possible. I am learning to love this gospel more and more every day, and if I don't do anything else on my mission, I will call my mission a success if I can help one person remember that Christ is always and forever there for them, not matter what they are going through.

 

On the news of the Canada front, things have started to warm up. We were hitting -25 last week with heavy wind chill, and I survived that so I think I have got it in me to make it through the rest of winter. This week should be much warmer, and hopefully we will be able to get a lot done in the field of Evergreen. I am grateful for each and every one of you, and thank Heavenly Father every day for the people that I have met and who bless my life every day. Thank you so much for the support you give me, and the love you show me. Thank you for your Prayers, I love you.

 

Sister Jensen